1. Field
A case for a mobile phone includes a magnification device to enlarge images from a display screen of the mobile phone.
2. Background Information
A smart phone is a mobile phone with an advanced mobile operating system. Most smart phones have a touch screen that provides images to a user and receives input from the user. However, there are a large number of older adults that cannot easily see the screen of their smart phone due to difficulty focusing on near objects.
The problem of elder usability of smart phones is significant. Out of 320.2 million people living in the United States in 2014, 235 million people use mobile devices. In other words, 73% of Americans use mobile devices. At the same time, 150 million people use corrective eyewear to compensate for farsightedness or nearsightedness. Seventy five percent of these 150 million, or 112,500,000 people, are adults.
Adults over age 40 might need assistance seeing their phone. Many peoples' eyes deteriorate from hyperopia, macular degeneration, impending cataracts, and other eye conditions, that interfere with sight. In the United States, 12 million adults over the age of 40 are farsighted. Out of the 242,470,820 adults in the United States, 70% get eyestrain from using electronic devices. That is to say, 169,729,574 adults, or roughly one-third, of the American population that get eyestrains.
Out of the 320.2 million people in the United States, 62% (198.5 M) use smart phones regularly. In a recent study, the study reported that the most common actions adults use on their smart phones is sending and receiving text messages (81%), accessing the web (61%), or reading or receiving e-mails (52%). It is desirable to improve elder usability of smart phones.